Keynote speech evolutionary biology Example of an existing collaboration and highlight of recent research results A Keynote

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1 Keynote speech evolutionary biology Example of an existing collaboration and highlight of recent research results A Keynote Professor Nils Chr Stenseth, University of Oslo Professor Eörs Szathmáry, MTA Ecological Research Center, Tihany Hungarian Norwegian Bilateral Cooperation: Research Conference & Knowledge Exchange 15 February 2018 (10:30-10:50), Budapest

2 From Microprocesses to Macrophenomena A case of transnational coevolution of coevolution research A Keynote Professor Nils Chr Stenseth, University of Oslo Professor Eörs Szathmáry, MTA Ecological Research Center, Tihany Hungarian Norwegian Bilateral Cooperation: Research Conference & Knowledge Exchange 15 February 2018 (10:30-10:50), Budapest

3 Scientific Excellence Widening European Participation

4 A bit of personal history Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, University of Oslo Visited Hungary/Budapest in the early 1970 s (during the IBP program): got very impressed by the biological sciences being done in Hungary Professor Eörs Szathmáry, Eötvös Loránd University Paid several visits to Norway: high appreciation for CEES

5 Common roots University of Sussex (UK) John Maynard Smith Nils Chr. Stenseth, University of Oslo Worked on sex-ratio theory Maynard Smith, J & Stenseth, NC 1978 On the evolutionary stability of the female-biased sex ratio in the wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor): the effect of inbreeding. Heredity, 41, Worked on the Red Queen Hypothesis Stenseth, NC & Maynard Smith, J 1984 Coevolution in Ecosystems: Red Queen Evolution or Stasis? Evolution, 38,

6 The Red Queen Hypothesis How can it be that extinction occurs random with respect to age [of a species] but nonrandomly with respect to ecology? Van Valen 1973, Evolutionary Theory N.C. Stenseth (CEES, Oslo, Norway): On evolutionary ecology and the Red Queen s Hypothesis

7 The Red Queen Hypothesis Evolutionary advances in one species will deteriorate the selective conditions experienced by other species, causing communities to continuously evolve even in absence of abiotic change N.C. Stenseth (CEES, Oslo, Norway): On evolutionary ecology and the Red Queen s Hypothesis

The Red Queen Hypothesis The Red Queen hypothesis was groundbreaking in that it explicitly linked ecology with evolution, and invoked microevolutionary processes to

8 The Red Queen Hypothesis The Red Queen hypothesis was groundbreaking in that it explicitly linked ecology with evolution, and invoked microevolutionary processes to explain macroevolutionary patterns. Bringing ecology and evolution together N.C. Stenseth (CEES, Oslo, Norway): On evolutionary ecology and the Red Queen s Hypothesis

9 Modelling the Red Queen Hypothesis Vancouver 1980 Stenseth, N.C. & Maynard Smith, J Coevolution in ecosystems: Red Queen evolution or stasis? Evolution 38, N.C. Stenseth (CEES, Oslo, Norway): On evolutionary ecology and the Red Queen s Hypothesis

10 Modelling the Red Queen Hypothesis Stenseth and Maynard Smith 1984 N.C. Stenseth (CEES, Oslo, Norway): On evolutionary ecology and the Red Queen s Hypothesis

11 Modelling the Red Queen Hypothesis main conclusion is that an ecosystem in a physically constant environment may be in one of two evolutionary modes: (i) Red Queen, or steady state of evolutionary change, or (ii) evolutionary stasis A decision as to which mode has been prevalent in the past will depend on a study of the fossil record. Stenseth and Maynard Smith 1984 N.C. Stenseth (CEES, Oslo, Norway): On evolutionary ecology and the Red Queen s Hypothesis

12 Common roots University of Sussex (UK) John Maynard Smith Nils Chr. Stenseth, University of Oslo Worked on sex-ratio theory Maynard Smith, J & Stenseth, NC 1978 On the evolutionary stability of the female-biased sex ratio in the wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor): the effect of inbreeding. Heredity, 41, Worked on the Red Queen Hypothesis Stenseth, NC & Maynard Smith, J 1984 Coevolution in Ecosystems: Red Queen Evolution or Stasis? Evolution, 38, Eörs Szathmáry, MTA Ecological Research Center, Tihany and Eötvös University, Budapest Worked on models of early evolution Szathmáry, E & Maynard Smith, J 1997 From replicators to reproducers: The first major transitions leading to life. J. theor. Biol. 187, Worked on major transitions in evolution Maynard Smith, J & Szathmáry, E 1995 The Major Transitions in Evolution. Freeman, Oxford.

13 Common roots The major transitions (1995)

14 Joining forces at CEES Eörs Szathmáry came to Oslo Horizon in Molecular Life Science (MLS) in Oslo in 2012 (Sept ): From Darwin to 1953 and beyond A joint Nordic meeting held at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters: Eörs Szathmáry: Not much of Molecular Life Sciences (or Genomics) makes sense except in the light of ecology and evolution Darwin Day 2014: The major transitions in evolution: From the origin of life to the emergence of language: Eörs Szathmáry: Bayes, Hebb and Darwin: toward a truly Darwinian view of the brain

More work on the Red Queen Hypothesis and coevolution in multispecies communities The importance of symmetry Eörs Szathmáry refereed this submission to PNAS Together with

15 More work on the Red Queen Hypothesis and coevolution in multispecies communities The importance of symmetry Eörs Szathmáry refereed this submission to PNAS Together with colleagues, Eörs Szathmáry wrote a commentary article on this PNAS paper: de Vladar HP, Santos M & Szathmáry E 2017 Grand Views of Evolution Trends Ecol Evol, 32,

More work on the Red Queen Hypothesis and coevolution in multispecies communities A major contribution of this work is that we are able to decompose the overall driver of changes

16 More work on the Red Queen Hypothesis and coevolution in multispecies communities A major contribution of this work is that we are able to decompose the overall driver of changes at the macro level (such as interconnectedness) into three components: (i) ecologically driven change, (ii) evolutionarily driven change, and (iii) environmentally driven change.

17 Joining forces in Oslo and Budapest Working on complementary questions relating to combining ecology and evolution

18 Joining forces in Oslo and Budapest The vexing problem of openendedness Weak: New phenotypes generated indefinitely Strong: Evolutionary novelties and innovations generated indefinitely Ultimate: major transitions appear without obvious upper bound

19 Joining forces in Oslo and Budapest Relations between evolution and learning theory Associative learning Reinforcement learning Deep learning

20 Down to Earth : Key players in the food web Inter-specific interaction networks Complexity! hard to understand hard to predict Key nodes? position traits functions internal structure spatial behaviour variability evolution Predictive food web results? Efficient management? Jordán, F Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 364:

21 Devil in the details : Ecological hierarchy Social networks connect individuals Food webs connect populations Food webs are networks of networks Vertical mechanisms are understudied (e.g. predation pressure -> prey cohesion) A multi-level network view integrates disciplines Scotti, M., Ciocchetta, F. and Jordán, F Journal of Complex Networks, 1: 1-23.

22 A unified biology

Toward a New Comparative Musicology. Steven Brown, McMaster University

Toward a New Comparative Musicology Steven Brown, McMaster University Comparative musicology is the scientific discipline devoted to the cross-cultural study of music. It looks at music in all of its forms